Unbreakable
by MoonfrostDragon
Summary: Almost losing someone dear to you (regardless of if you know it or not) is always life changing. Hiei thought that his heart was unbreakable, but it turns out he had a weakness greater than Yukina. No enemy knew of his care for her, so she could never be used against him. But Kurama? That was a different story, a secret that Hiei never realized he had.
1. Chapter 1 - Broken Roses

AN: It's been far too long since I've written anything, so here's something I've been sort of messing with for a while. Hopefully I can keep these guys in character, and not mess up anything important since I have yet to finish the series (I'm trying!). Thanks for reading, and I'll try to update this as soon as I can! (It's almost finals at college, so I sadly can't promise anything).

He hated that sad little smile that twisted pale lips. He hated the pain, the sadness, the hopelessness that glittered from the depths of those emerald eyes, the flickers of gold sparkling like embers. He hated the way those eyes slid closed and the slow way the legs buckled, the soft thud of a body hitting the ground. He hated the sight of the long, red hair; which had been silver minutes ago; splayed upon the grass, the stark green making the red all the brighter, but not outdone by the crimson lines sliding along the temple of the downed yokai; the demon that he had looked up to for years, partnered to avoid fighting on his own, the demon he had come to trust. That trust was shaken to the floor with the same rapidity as the quieting breathing- he had always considered the other infallible. And now… he didn't know if the other was dying or merely unconscious – that blow to the head could have done either.

Furious red eyes focused on the yokai standing across from him, a few feet away. The sword at his hip seemed to scream inside the sheath, raging at confinement, and he was tempted to let the rage rear its head; to allow common sense and tactics to fall to the wayside. The key was _almost_. He wasn't going to throw his life away, no matter how badly shaken he was. He would never admit it to anyone, least of all himself, but he was terrified. Terrified, not that he would die, but that his friend- yes he would call him that, was going to or already had. A quick moment of listening detected the gentle, almost unheard breaths – far too soft to be sleep and certainly not awake, the cadence was wrong. The little demon growled low in his throat, eyes screaming blood and murder, fangs bared. His fangs were like a gun in the human world - you didn't pull it unless you were going to use it.

The laughter that burbled from the throat of the opponent came out like a dirge and a curse garbled together in a blender, but it had the pattern of one so amused that he was choking. Normally wide eyes narrowed, and the sword was loosened. Someone was going to get hurt, and it wasn't going to be the little fire demon. He was too angry for that, he would end this faster than the laughing fool could swallow. A quick movement of the hand, a white cloth fluttered to the ground, and a violet eye slowly opened to join the garnet ones in promising death. And then he _moved. _Yellow eyes widened, the laughter died, and there wasn't time for an intake of breath before the blood flew. The arms were the first to fall, hitting the ground with loud thuds. The demon screamed as the blade bit through his knees and he toppled. His head was removed before his torso hit the grass, landing some ten feet away; the eyes still open in horror. His laughter hadn't yet faded to the inaudible. Only seconds had passed, and the little yokai decided it was fair enough, though the other had deserved hours of pain, not the easy way out.

"A quick end is not what you deserve, but you are not worth wasting time for." The swordsman snarled, wiping his blade of black blood with the grass before sheathing it. He straightened, turning shadowed eyes upon his downed companion. He had told the fox not to come human. He had told him to watch his back. He had only left for a few minutes, looking for a reasonable place for them to talk. He would never lead the fox into that fortress. He feared letting Murkuro get her claws into the infamous Youko, Hiei knew better. She was far too interested in the reputation to see the reality. Kurama had ties in the human world, ones that Hiei couldn't understand, but ones that he respected. Hiei was willing to wait it out, wait until the inevitable day when Kurama's, or rather Shuichi's, mother died. It was an ugly truth, but the one that all humans lived ignoring. Kurama had said that he would come back to the Makai then, if only so he didn't have to be reminded of the past everywhere he looked. He had also not given any absolutes that he would stay in the Makai for good, but Hiei was fine with that. He would never admit it, but the human world had its charms. No annoying low class demons, no aggravating insects, and best of all – no Murkuro.

But looking at the fragile body crumpled to the grass in front of him, Hiei felt the first stirrings of fear. Not the fear of death, he was above it, had conquered it. No, this was different. This was a fear of losing someone he hadn't realized that the cherished almost as much as his sister. A gentle thump brought his eyes to the ground, a sharp gasp being sucked through his teeth at the glittering red jewel in the grass. He raised a shocked hand to his face, finding it wet. He was crying. He didn't know if the realization made him enraged or shocked that he was actually _crying_. Hiei shoved the gem into his pocket, anger soaking into the fear, the despair, as he gathered the surprisingly heavy body of Kurama into his arms. Hiei sighed in relief, the fox was still breathing – he had to put his ear close to the fox's mouth to tell, but he was breathing. There was a barely imperceptible rise and fall to his chest. Hiei idly wondered if Kurama had a heartbeat like humans or one like demons – that didn't beat normally (and was therefore no help). He growled- he didn't have time for curiosity! Hiei berated himself, cradling Kurama against his chest as he started running. He wasn't far from the portal Kurama had come through, it wouldn't take him more than five minutes to run for it. Within fifteen, they would be back in the human world. Hiei would seek out one of their other friends, he knew too little of how humanity functioned to know what to do.


	2. Chapter 2 - Worries & Healing

AN: Well, here's chapter two. I've got a week of classes and then a week of finals, so I'll be writing whenever I'm not frantically studying/writing essays/shooting photographs/and so forth. I don't think this story will be more than ten chapters, at the most (and if I get to ten, I'll be really surprised), but I will do my best to make it interesting. And worth the rating, later on.

Hiei burst out of the portal into human world, immediately taking to the trees. No one ever looked up, and his speed would render him invisible to the slower, human eyes. He made a beeline for Yusuke's dinky ramen shop, praying the former detective would be there. He could feel the boy's spirit energy, and he realized with a start – it was almost on top of him. He allowed a small snort, glad that the idiot hadn't let his skills rot. He skidded to a stop, turning on a heel and with a swirl of black cloth, and faced his friend. The laughing amusement on Yusuke's face froze before it shattered into shock when he realized that Hiei carried an unconscious Kurama.

"What the hell happened, Hiei!" Yusuke shouted. Hiei's eye twitched and he silently thanked whoever was watching them for keeping any humans away.

"Quiet, you idiot!" Hiei hissed, eyes narrowing dangerously. "I only left for a minute, we were in the Makai. I came back when I felt another yokai but he'd already hit Kurama in the head. I made it in time to watch him fall." Hiei snarled with the fury still fresh in his eyes. Yusuke shivered and took a small step away. Hiei still scared the peas out of him when he was pissed, even after the years of working together and knowing that the little yokai wouldn't kill him. _Probably._

"And the one who did this?"

"Carrion." Hiei growled, fidgeting awkwardly. "Can we please get off the street." It wasn't a question and Yusuke jerked, only now seeming to remember they were in his world and not Hiei's- and in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Uh, yeah. Come in, I'll call Kuwabara." Yusuke muttered, leading Hiei to a door around the back of the ramen shop. The Jaganshi had forgotten that Yusuke lived above his shop. The house there was much larger than the shop, easily big enough to hold their entire group – and that never failed to impress Hiei. It looked tiny from the outside.

Yusuke bolted up the stairs and for the living room, fumbling with the phone. Hiei had followed at a slightly slower, but no less worried, pace and stood awkwardly by the door for a moment, before shrugging and padding silently into the room. He wanted to know why the moron's first thought was to call Kuwabara, but he got his answer as he was carefully trying to put Kurama on the couch without jarring his head or neck.

"KUWABARA! SHUT UP! This isn't time for fooling around! Yukina's there, right?" Hiei almost choked on the breath he had just taken. Yusuke gave him a droll look and rolled his eyes, as though saying 'get over it' and promptly returned to screaming into the phone. Hiei's eye twitched. "Look, you moron, Kurama's unconscious!" Yusuke looked like he wanted to throw the phone across the room. Hiei would have laughed, had the circumstance been different. As it was, he was relieved when Kuwabara started shouting into the phone, asking too many questions and chivvying everyone at his house to get moving. He was yelling so loudly that Hiei could hear him across the room and Yusuke was holding the phone a foot from himself, a nasty look on his face- conveniently forgetting that he, too, had been screaming into someone's ear not even a minute ago.

Hiei tuned out the screaming idiots, turning his energy into pacing back and forth in front of the window. He ignored the startled expression that Yusuke sent his way, it wasn't as if he usually showed obvious signs of worry. If pressed, Hiei would attribute it to his job in the Makai. It was no secret that Murkuro put him on edge and his emotions were always just below breaking whenever he took a break (or took off for days). He knew that Kuwabara thought he was cold-hearted all the way through, because it was rare that he ever showed worry or care for anyone. As much as it rankled, everyone else seemed to have caught onto any tells for what he was feeling- though they rarely said anything about it; likely because they worried that he would immediately get angry or stop showing that he cared (which was rare, if at all).

It was almost fifteen minutes later that Kuwabara burst through the door, startling Hiei (who jumped) and Yusuke (who cussed). Yukina made a quieter entrance, with Genkai behind her (which surprised Hiei) and Shizuru in the back.

"I see you brought everyone." Yusuke muttered, raising his eyebrow. He was wondering why Genkai had been at Kuwabara's house, the only reason he could think of was chaperoning Yukina. He was also trying not to laugh at the look on Hiei's face- Yusuke couldn't tell if it was horror, shock, or still surprise.

"Well, yeah. Yukina was there when you called, and Shizuru lives next door; and Genkai was coming to get Yukina so it just made sense to bring 'em all. Now, what the hell happened and why wouldn't you tell me over the phone!" Kuwabara's voice, though very quiet, still carried the sound of his shouting. Hiei sighed, slinking into a back corner. He still didn't like being in crowds, even after that damned Tournament and everything else. It was a testament to his trust for them that he hadn't already bunked out the window.

"Well, I was heading back here from work and ran into Hiei- and he was carrying Kurama." Yusuke started, frowning slightly when he realized that Hiei was out of sight now. The former spirit detective wished that the little yokai wouldn't hide, but he assumed that it was because Yukina was there. "From what Hiei told me, he and Kurama had been in the Makai- talking about something or other, and Hiei had stepped away to check on something. When he got back, it was in time to see some demon backhand Kurama hard enough to knock him out of his Yoko form, and unconscious. I brought them here, then called you." Yusuke finished, stepping away when Genkai fluttered a hand in his direction. She and Yukina began a very hushed conversation about Kurama's injuries, and how best to heal them- and also the possible lingering side effects.

"Dammit! What happened to the other demon." Kuwabara's voice was tight with anger and hate.

"Dead." Hiei growled from the back corner. Kuwabara jumped, eyes darting around and finally locating Hiei in the corner closest to the window. Kuwabara nodded to him, face torn between glee and a lingering anger. Hiei snorted softly, did the fool really think that he would let off anyone who dared to harm anyone he could call a friend?

The three boys and Shizuru relocated to the kitchen after Genkai lost her temper over Kuwabara and Yusuke's hovering, and Hiei fled just so that he wouldn't be in the same room as Yukina. He had a sick feeling that his friends were going to start in on him again, with the exception of Kuwabara (still happily ignorant), about just telling Yukina everything. He had his reasons, and all of them selfish. No, he didn't doubt that Yukina would be ecstatic about it; nor that she'd react badly. He didn't want to tell her out of sheer guilt, and self-hate. He hadn't even really confided that part to anyone other than Kurama, just that he did not want any of his numerous enemies to use her as a weak spot to get to him. Hiei knew that if it'd happened, that if someone took Yukina, he'd be completely bound by whatever they wanted.

Hiei was dragged out of his brooding by the sudden realization that he was being stared at. Yusuke simply looked amused, while Kuwabara looked like he was about to explode through the roof with sparks like his spirit sword. Hiei slowly quirked an eyebrow at them, not making a sound, he had no idea what had passed while he had been completely lost in his own little world.

"I was _saying_ that you brought Kurama here, but you barely told me what had happened." Yusuke muttered, rolling his eyes. He didn't look like he expected much more of an answer out of Hiei, but Kuwabara nodded vehemently, arms crossing over his chest. Hiei eyed him in slight annoyance, wishing that he'd learn when prying was the worst possible idea.

"Stick your nose in my private life and I'll burn it off." Hiei barked back, closing his eyes and leaning against the wall. His arms had crossed over his own chest some time ago, as was his usual habit to try to keep people at a better distance. He heard Yusuke sigh in resignation, and Hiei thanked him (mentally, of course) for the good sense not to pry. Kuwabara on the other hand…. That one never got a hint.

"I don't care if it's your _private life, _one of **our** group almost got killed!" Kuwabara snarled, crossing the room in mere seconds and fisting the front of Hiei's cloak with both hands. Hiei didn't even open his eyes, far too used to having Kuwabara shaking him to react much beyond a mild anger at being manhandled. If Kuwabara continued to keep ahold of Hiei, though, tempers really would snap. "Hiei, you'd better tell us now, because I don't want to find out later that this is something huge when you get yourself killed trying to handle it on your own!"

Hiei jerked into motion, slapping away Kuwabara's fists. Ruby eyes snapped open, filled with more fire than usual.

"Back off before I really do try to kill you, fool." Hiei's already low voice dropped lower with fury, his eyes narrowing farther. Kuwabara, stubborn as usual, had to be dragged off the smaller yokai by Yusuke, and Kuwabara didn't go without a fight. Hiei sent one last glower at the pair before darting back through the kitchen and into the living room. He was given a small nod by Genkai, permission to stay, and took up a position on the window ledge; after he quietly opened the window. Hiei slowly fit himself into the space, one arm resting on a knee, and divided his attention between staring out the window and short glances at the inert body on the couch- where a soft glow from Genkai and Yukina's healing could be seen. He didn't hear anything else that was going on in the room, just his own tumbling thoughts. _What if he'd been faster, what if Kurama hadn't been distracted, what had distracted the fox that badly, what could he have done to prevent the outcome, what if, what if, what if!_

Yusuke, after pulling Kuwabara away from a potentially painful death, managed to get his friend to calm down somewhat; and both were now peering around the doorway at the motionless form in the window. Kuwabara muttered something about how Hiei was allowed in the same room while they got sent to the kitchen. Shizuru rolled her eyes at him behind his back. She had taken up station just inside the kitchen door (to prevent them from going back into the room). Yusuke only sighed at his friend, his full attention focused on the way Hiei would turn to glance at Kurama with a tiny, worried crease between his eyebrows before glaring back out the window. He hadn't seen _that_ kind of reaction to a situation like this before, and Kurama had been laid out by injuries before. Yusuke wondered what the difference was this time. Was it because Hiei had been _right there_ and the other demo had slipped through his senses? Was it shock that Kurama hadn't turned his attackers into plant food? Or… was Hiei brooding over something deeper than the casual 'you/I should be better than this' stuff that he always threw out in front of everyone. True enough, Hiei had said that the one who almost killed Kurama was dead… but something in the dark yokai's tone, some hint of pure fury, had Yusuke thinking that if Hiei had the time; that the other yokai wouldn't have died so quickly, so mercifully. That kind of reaction went beyond the normal for Hiei. Yusuke's lips quirked in a funny little smile as another thought occurred to him. _Or maybe Hiei's reacting like this because he really does care for Kurama. Hell, he could even love him. _

"What're you smirking about, Urameshi?" Kuwabara muttered in his ear, eyeing Yusuke suspiciously from the corner of his eye. Yusuke grinned wider and shook his head.

"You've gotta figure this one out for yourself, Kuwabara." A disgruntled sigh was his reply, and Yusuke chuckled. Kuwabara kept priding himself on being super-intuitive and all that, so it really shouldn't take him all that long to come up with it. Providing he pay attention to the tiny details, rather than trying to wring answers from tight-lipped demons.

"Hiei's actin' kinda funny, don't you think?" Kuwabara sighed a moment later, rubbing his forehead lightly. He was beginning to get a headache.

"Hm?" Yusuke opted to play dumb, trying to keep the amusement he was feeling inside from spilling into his tone.

"He keeps glowering outside, 'an glancing over at Kurama for a minute, then he's back to glowering out the window." Kuwabara shifted his weight back slightly, scowling. "Usually he just glowers out the window the whole time, with a snarky remark for anyone who tries to talk to him. And he did pretty much run away in the kitchen." The last sentence was added as an afterthought, and Yusuke snorted. _And people say Kuwabara's an idiot._ He was sharp when it came to his friends. Well, sometimes.

"Yeah, that is pretty weird. Nothing usually phases him."

"Hmm…."

Silence descended like a blanket over the group, a slightly tense silence; but not awkward. They were watching and waiting. After roughly ten minutes since Kuwabara had brought them, Genkai and Yukina slowly stood up; both looking tired; but not overly worried- a promising sign that had Yusuke sighing lightly. Yusuke was halfway into his living room before he froze, worried that Genkai was going to use him as a dust mop for invading before she gave him the okay.

"Kurama's going to be fine. That blow did crack his skull and nearly broke his neck. Don't make any loud noises, start a fight, or wake him up until he gets up on his own." Genkai's stern glance traveled from Yusuke to Kuwabara, and then to Hiei. The two boys nodded, Hiei quietly grunted. "Someone's also gonna have to keep an eye on Kurama for a couple days. I think we healed it all, but I don't want to risk him having a concussion. Whoever stays with him is gonna have to wake him every two hours and ask him his name, age, stuff like that." While adding the last, her gaze was straight on Hiei. Yusuke was quietly and invisibly smug, he could see the amusement dancing in the back of his teacher's eyes. Kuwabara was slightly irritated, a little confused, but muttered something about that probably being best since Hiei knew Kurama better than anyone else there did, except Botan- but she wasn't there so that was irrelevant.

"So, now all we gotta do is wait for him to wake up?" Kuwabara asked Genkai, keeping his tone soft. She nodded, heading wearily to the kitchen with Yukina following silently behind her. The Ice Maiden smiled slightly at Kuwabara and inclined her head to Yusuke as she passed.

"Yes, Kuwabara. I don't know how long he'll be out. His body has to decide that it's sufficiently recovered from the trauma before he'll wake up. And don't crowd him when he does come around, depending on how bad that hit really was and how much we managed to heal… too many at once might overwhelm him if he doesn't remember everything and everyone right away."

Kuwabara nodded, his face fully serious. Yusuke decided that expression was kinda creepy on a face that he was more used to seeing twisted in laughter or screaming at him. Hiei, he noticed, hadn't moved from the window; beyond switching which leg his arm was resting on, the free one now hung on the inside of the ledge. Yusuke grinned again, wondering if Hiei even knew how obvious he was being, or if the fire apparition even realized what he was doing. The former detective grinned lightly when he caught Hiei eyeing him sourly from the window and shrugged.

"Want anything?" Yusuke asked quietly, gesturing at the kitchen. The look he got back was hilarious, to him. It looked like Hiei couldn't decide if he wanted to be sarcastic, annoyed, or just deadpan stare at him; but the resulting expression did nothing other than make the fire demon look much less threatening than he normally did.

"No." Hiei growled, staring back outside. Yusuke snorted softly, shaking his head. He hadn't figured that the demon would want anything; he was so highly mistrustful of everything in the human world.

"You're gonna have to close the window soon, unless you want to deal with Keiko bodily throwing you out it and shutting it." Yusuke added, smugly watching as Hiei vacated the window almost immediately- remembering not to slam it shut. The look of almost pure terror in Hiei's eyes had been hysterical to see. That terror had stemmed from Keiko hounding the small man for almost an hour the one time she had met him. He'd never really gotten over that interrogation, especially from someone who refused to let him say no or nothing at all in answer.

Hiei relocated to a corner of the room that was mostly in shadow, all anyone could see of him was the occasional flash of his eyes when he tracked someone walking by. He barely nodded when Keiko said hello to him, scooting a little deeper into the dark. He wasn't used to being around so many people, nor so used to being inside. He never stayed inside that damned castle, not unless he was forced to- and even then he'd take off in the middle of the night. Hiei remained in that spot, so quiet that the others would sometimes jerk up and look around, as though they thought he'd slipped off while they were talking; only to find him staring at them with a raised eyebrow. He was listening, just not speaking, which was really nothing new when it came to stuff like this. He only spoke when asked a question, or if it was battle strategy- not something like their gossipy talk about people he didn't know and had no intention to get to know.

"Yo, are you all staying over or what?" Yusuke finally asked, after repeated proddings from Keiko. She was counting the people in the room, unsure if there were enough spare blankets and pillows to make up beds for everyone.

"Nope. I'm going home, I'll be back tomorrow afternoon to see what's happened; if anything." Genkai replied, hopping up from her chair. She glanced at Yukina, inclining her head to the door; a silent question of if the other would be coming back with her. Yukina nodded, smiling gently at everyone in the room; Hiei included, before joining the old psychic on her way out the door.

A chorus of 'bye' and 'see you' sheparded them out, Shizuru leaving not far behind them, saying something about not trusting that cat with the house; which had Kuwabara indignantly whisper-shouting after her. Yusuke shook his head, shrugging at Keiko.

"Looks like just Kuwabara and Hiei over there are staying." He chuckled, slowly standing up and stretching. Hiei nodded, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed behind his head, closing his eyes and stifling a yawn. He didn't want to outwardly admit that he was tired enough to sleep in plain sight, but that's how it had turned out. He heard Yusuke and Kuwabara clattering around in one of the other rooms, the orange-haired man making some remark that had Yusuke punching him in the shoulder, at least that's what it sounded like from what Hiei was only half-listening to.

"Here." Hiei's eyes snapped open and he jumped, startled by the sound of Keiko's voice. He hadn't been paying attention to anything to the point where he had let his guard down so far that she had been able to get within two feet of the demon without his noticing. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." She added, offering him a pillow and a small pile of blankets.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks." Hiei awkwardly accepted the pile, averting his eyes and hating the slight heat that rose to his cheeks. Yusuke, who had been peeking around the corner, grinned gleefully to himself, happily thinking that the fire demon was finally loosening up around them. Something that had only taken far too many years to occur.

"Well… Night." Keiko smiled at him, straightening up from the crouch that she had been in and heading for her room, after lightly smacking Yusuke in the head for 'spying', as she put it. Hiei watched her go, bemused at the kindness but grateful anyway. It was going to be a long night, and he had no intention leaving until he made sure that Kurama was still the same demon that Hiei knew. He was worried that something would go wrong, inwardly terrified that he was going to lose his friend; a thought that he promptly buried while busying himself with setting up his bedding (which ended up looking more like a small nest, than anything).

After one last, long look at Kurama's invert form and a careful study of his slow breathing, Hiei murmured a soft goodnight, and something that might have been a plea for the other to get better fast before the fire demon burrowed into his borrowed blankets, all three eyes shut to make the darkness in the room complete.


End file.
